Well, my best laid plans for bleaching/disinfecting some green holly have gone somewhat awry. When the holly rounds were split, the wood was a beautiful creamy white. I bleached/disinfected the wood with a strong oxalic acid bath, and then against my better judgement, I rinsed the acid off, as per the printed instructions. I then sealed the end grain with wax emulsion and set it aside.

Two weeks later, all of the pieces have the blue fungal stain that so often plagues holly. Interestingly, it seems to always be associated with the pith. Pieces that were riven (before I hacked my thumb) have only a thin section of pith that turned blue, as if the riven pith could contain the infection. Pieces that were sawn (after I hacked my thumb) have the infection spread across the sawn face.

I re applied the oxalic acid, and it appears to have killed the fungus, but the stain only turned brown. This time I didn't rinse, but left the acid on the wood. Hopefully, catching it early means that the fungus won't penetrate any deeper and only the surface and pith will be effected. Time will tell.

Cheers,Tom

_________________"There is no path to peace, peace is the path."Mohandas K. Ghandi

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